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rustic View Drop Down
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    Posted: May/26/2012 at 21:54
bitterroot:
Honestly I have never taken a camera along with me do to weight/space/hassle/time and being up against deadlines every time.
But where I have been is north of the cloud peak wilderness very loose low class 5 stuff would not even try without harness w/hardware rope helmet.
And have scouted the medicine bow area also outside of cody.

My ratio of using scope to binos is seconds to hours at a time. My vx-3 has never been used on anything but the highest mag that is what the conditions called for what can I say?

I mis-understood your take on the mount I should have had it scored first before spending $300 on it. Two weekends ago I had it scored by a professional 134-5/8 something I should of had done before posting... My Bad




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bitterroot Bulls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/26/2012 at 22:23
rustic,
 
If you really want to get into the Western hunting bit:
 
1.  Turn your scope down.  Variables are made to be carried on the bottom power.  It is a field of view thing.
 
2.  Get a camera and carry it in the cargo pocket of your hunting pants.  God put some effort into His creation, and it is worth a second or two to get some pictures to remember it.
 
3.  Don't worry about the score, worry about the hunt.  Those "180 class" mulies in Eastman's don't actually score 180.
 
Now here is some Sheep country:
 
 
As you can see, they aren't always dangling off cliffs.  It is also important to have a pretty good view through your scope, to make sure you are on the right one.  BTW, the right one is the one in the front.  interestingly, I also took this photo at first light.
 
 


Edited by Bitterroot Bulls - May/26/2012 at 22:31
-Matt
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rustic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/26/2012 at 22:55
Originally posted by Bitterroot Bulls Bitterroot Bulls wrote:

rustic,
 

If you really want to get into the Western hunting bit:

 

1.  Turn your scope down.  Variables are made to be carried on the bottom power.  It is a field of view thing.

 

2.  Get a camera and carry it in the cargo pocket of your hunting pants.  God put some effort into His creation, and it is worth a second or two to get some pictures to remember it.

 

3.  Don't worry about the score, worry about the hunt.  Those "180 class" mulies in Eastman's don't actually score 180.

 

Now here is some Sheep country:

 


 

As you can see, they aren't always dangling off cliffs.  It is also important to have a pretty good view through your scope, to make sure you are on the right one.  BTW, the right one is the one in the front.  interestingly, I also took this photo at first light.

 

 


Did you get one of them? those are some fine looking animals. Much better than mine... Someday.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote helo18 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/26/2012 at 23:00
Actually most sheep I have seen in Montana aren't on cliffs, that is goats.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote helo18 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/26/2012 at 23:05
That photo looks like the sheep country on the Big Hole River by Melrose.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rustic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/26/2012 at 23:08
I have had to do some climbing just to get somewhat close to them every time it seems.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bitterroot Bulls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/27/2012 at 07:37
Originally posted by rustic rustic wrote:


Did you get one of them? those are some fine looking animals. Much better than mine... Someday.

 
Nope, I haven't drawn a tag yet.  But then again I have only been applying for 20 years.
 
Helo,
 
Those sheep weren't on the Bighole.  They are Region 2 sheep.  MT has great sheep everywhere, eh?
-Matt
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WYcoyote Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/27/2012 at 11:23
Some guys I know have been getting some brutes in the Missouri Breaks at the head of Ft Peck.
Tough to draw. Not your typical terrain. Some use boats to access the back coulees.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote helo18 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/27/2012 at 15:27
The breaks is where i always put it. Had a friend draw her tag in there last year. Came out with a nice sheep. Elk and sheep are hard to draw in there, but i need to draw one so I can make better us of our cabin in there.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bitterroot Bulls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/27/2012 at 15:43
Every Limited Entry unit in MT has Boone and Crockett rams. While Utah has their giant elk and Colorado has their monster mule deer, Montana has the big boy bighorns.

And in MT, the biggest of the big are in the Missouri River Breaks. It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that the next world record Rocky Mountain Bighorn will come out of the Breaks. I can only imagine what it looks like to fly in a helicopter over those badlands looking at monster sheep. Unfortunately the draw odds on those tags are somewhere between lightning and lotto.
-Matt
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote helo18 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/27/2012 at 15:59
If you want to fly it some time BB, I might be able to arrange something, as long as you are ok with me piloting the whirlybird.

By the way, there are some monster elk in there as well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bitterroot Bulls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/27/2012 at 19:57
Originally posted by helo18 helo18 wrote:

If you want to fly it some time BB, I might be able to arrange something, as long as you are ok with me piloting the whirlybird.

By the way, there are some monster elk in there as well.
 
Oh, I wasn't begging for a ride, Helo!  Sure sounds like it when I read back my posts.
 
I as just remarking how nice it must be to be a pilot living in that area. 
 
I have seen some of those breaks bulls, too.  Spectacular.
 
I was deer hunting in the breaks on the south side in 2003 when a hunter killed that giant 411" bull in there.  Now it sits over the door in the Missoula Wholesale Sports.  I beleive they killed a kitty in there that year too.  Wild country.
 
Now for the record, I will fly with you anytime, looking for/at whatever, and the beer is on me ... uh ... afterward of course.
-Matt
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote helo18 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/27/2012 at 20:36
I know you weren't begging. I would gladly take anyone up that wants to go. No beer required.  I have never flown the breaks as of yet, but would love to.  I am sure I could get a long list of members here that would gladly go.  I have flown around Butte, Bozeman, and Three Forks.

Maybe if I draw a sheep tag there this year we could go scouting.  Didn't get my elk tags there this year either.  Both have about a 1% chance of drawing on the south side where the cabin is.  One of the hardest areas to draw in the state.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bitterroot Bulls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/27/2012 at 22:51
Helo, I put in for goat and moose near Bozeman (my old stompin' grounds).  If the draw genie smiles on me on either one we will have to go for a flight over in the Gallatin country.
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/28/2012 at 10:37
Fortunately, in this day and age, we can carry these little digital cameras around with us that do great work and weigh almost nothing.  Not like lugging a nice 35mm camera around all day.  No need to load film while the animals are escaping or the sunset is slipping away. 
 
I've never had a sheep tag, but I have hunted mulies up where the sheep live. It's not anymore taxing than hunting a good day's hunt for deer.  I knew a guy in Esterbrook, Wyoming who filled his sheep tag in 1981 while driving along in his pick-up. But, of course, that was just a fluke. I have had ewes ran out in front of me while driving along some dirt road up in the Laramie Range. But, of course, a sheep hunter would still want to be conscious of any unnecessary weight.     
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bitterroot Bulls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/28/2012 at 12:41
Originally posted by Son of Ed Son of Ed wrote:


I've never had a sheep tag, but I have hunted mulies up where the sheep live. It's not anymore taxing than hunting a good day's hunt for deer.


Agreed ED!

I have had a few experiences over the last few seasons where i noticed mountain goats BELOW the mulie bucks I was glassing. There are all types of deer country.

Some of those deer hunts have been pretty taxing.

Even after dark.
-Matt
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote helo18 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/28/2012 at 12:55
I've seen some weird stuff before.  Last year, I was hunting southeast of Ennis, and ran into some speedgoats at 8500 feet in a forest clearing.  Oddly enough, never saw any deer.  Saw a mountain goat at 10,000.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rustic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/28/2012 at 16:34
Originally posted by Bitterroot Bulls Bitterroot Bulls wrote:

Originally posted by Son of Ed Son of Ed wrote:


I've never had a sheep tag, but I have hunted mulies up where the sheep live. It's not anymore taxing than hunting a good day's hunt for deer.


Agreed ED!

I have had a few experiences over the last few seasons where i noticed mountain goats BELOW the mulie bucks I was glassing. There are all types of deer country.

Some of those deer hunts have been pretty taxing.

Even after dark.


I must be hunting in all the wrong areas. I apply for areas that have a high percentage of drawing tags but, I also like the hike/climbing almost as much as the hunt.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bitterroot Bulls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/28/2012 at 17:05
Originally posted by rustic rustic wrote:


I must be hunting in all the wrong areas. I apply for areas that have a high percentage of drawing tags but, I also like the hike/climbing almost as much as the hunt.


I don't understand. What makes you say you are hunting the wrong areas? Too rough? Not rough enough? Not enough game?
-Matt
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rustic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/28/2012 at 19:09
Originally posted by Bitterroot Bulls Bitterroot Bulls wrote:

Originally posted by rustic rustic wrote:


I must be hunting in all the wrong areas. I apply for areas that have a high percentage of drawing tags but, I also like the hike/climbing almost as much as the hunt.


I don't understand. What makes you say you are hunting the wrong areas? Too rough? Not rough enough? Not enough game?


Not seeing as much game and most of all not getting a chance at these real trophys I see posted here and on TV.
I really don't feel too left out though I enjoy the hunt/hiking/climbing a great deal too.
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